Articles and comments by Fadi Zanayed, a Moderate Palestinian, about the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

I Will Not Be Intimidated!

Early
this morning I received an email message telling me that IDF RABBI (IDFrabbi)
is now receiving my messages posted on Tweeter.
His profile states that he is “Friend
of Israeli soldier and Mosad agent…..”
IDF stands for Israeli Defense Force and Mosad is Apartheid israel’s
equivalent of the CIA. Am I supposed to
be intimidated? Am I supposed to stop writing about exposing the Apartheid
State of Israel”

No! I
will not stop writing. I will not be
intimidated!

I do
not mind that a “friend of Israeli soldier” is following me. I have nothing to hide. My blog tries to
expose Israel for what it truly is—an Apartheid State of Israel. If I can make a pro-Israeli think twice about
the atrocities that Apartheid Israel is doing in Palestine, especially a rabbi,
I will be happy. After all, I do not
want my message to be just read by Palestinians and their supporters. I want people that do not support or do not
understand the Palestinian cause to be enlightened to a point that they start
advocating for the Palestinian right of return; for championing East Jerusalem as
the capital of an independent democratic Palestinian State; for the removal of
military checkpoints; for ending the cruel Apartheid Israeli occupation of
Palestine; for the dismantling of the apartheid wall; for the lifting of the siege
on Gaza; for the release of Palestinian political prisoners lingering in
Apartheid Israel’s jails; for the preservation of Palestinian olive groves; and/or
for understanding the true nature of Israel as an Apartheid State.

I do
not even mind that IDF Rabbi is a self-proclaimed “Mosad agent.” If that is supposed to intimidate me, it does
not. The policy of Apartheid Israel is
to instill fear into Palestinians living in Palestine to a point that they want
to voluntarily leave their
land of Palestine. Read my articles: “Sadiq:
It is hard to live in fear”[1]
and “Apartheid Israel Policy of Fear”[2]
where I write about Israel’s policy of fear. In my case, since I do not live in Palestine, Apartheid
Israel wants to intimidate me from exposing its apartheid nature by scaring me
from expressing my views.

Am I
really going to stop writing now that a “Mosad agent” is now following me? I am
aware that that people like me who blog against Apartheid Israel are being
watched? Of course we are being watched. In fact, Apartheid Israel pays college students
to scout for what people like me are saying about it.[3]
Apartheid Israel’s tactic of fear is being
exported to try to intimidate Palestinian supporters from exposing the apartheid
nature of Israel. It will not work.

In
America, the freedom of speech is all too powerful a human value that cannot be
abridged by any level of intimidation.
Apartheid Israel does not understand this human value of freedom of
speech. In fact, Apartheid Israel has
passed a law to stifle any form of support for the boycott, divestment and
sanctions movement which is daily growing against Israel. It is now an offense to call for a boycott
against the (Apartheid) State of Israel or its West Bank settlements. Amnesty
International states this law “will have a chilling effect on freedom of
expression in Israel.”[4]

Apartheid
Israel taunts itself as the only democracy in the Middle East. With the anti-boycott, anti-free speech law
that Apartheid Israel has passed can it really still claim to be
democratic? Stifling free speech is not
what democracies do.

Amnesty International recognized that it is “… clear that one of the
main aims of the law is to penalize those using boycott calls to campaign
against Israel's illegal settlements in the OPT or highlight the ongoing
violations of Palestinian rights caused by the settlements.”

It is also clear that Apartheid
Israel wants to intimidate Palestinians and their supporters from exposing it for what it is—as the Apartheid
State of Israel. Will we be
intimidated? NO! NO! NO!

About Me

Fadi Zanayed is an author, poet, community activist and an attorney since 1985. A graduate from Loyola University with a B.S. in Managerial Accounting and a minor in Political Science in 1983, he received his law degree from Loyola School of Law in 1985. A Palestinian American whose family originates from Ramallah, Palestine, Fadi Zanayed is an active and proud member of the Arab American community with a long history of community leadership and service. They include: Founding Member of Arab-American Bar Association of Illinois, Inc.; Former Regional Director & Past President, Chicago Chapter of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee; Past President of the Chicago Chapter of the Palestinian American Congress; Past National Secretary of the Palestinian American Congress; Past President of the Chicago Club of Ramallah, Palestine; Past Member of the Board of the American Federation of Ramallah, Palestine; Past President of the American Youth Federation of Ramallah, Palestine. He is the author of Cycle of Frustration: A collection of poems about Palestine; and Betrayal, Sorrow and Tomorrow (pen name: Chris F. Wollinks).